Muslim Faith

Group Members: Sam Bailey, Tara, Katelyn, Caitlin, Morgan


Thesis: The Muslim faith's rich background traces the path to its main beliefs and ideas, such as the religious monotheistic belief. Understanding these beliefs and ideas help clear present day misconceptions and misunderstanding which people believe about the religion.

The Founding of Islam

The founding of Islam begins with Abraham, ancestor of Mohammed through Ishmael Abraham’s first son. The story begins as Abraham and Sarah cannot have a child, as she is barren.


Summary of the founding of Islam

• Hagar and Abraham have Ishmael
• Sarah and Abraham have Isaac
• Hagar and Ishmael are sent away because Sarah now has a child of her own
• God Comes to Hagar and brings water, also tells her that her son will create a nation

• Abraham travels to Mecca to Build Kaaba with Ishmael’s help (the cubic granite building) toward which they pray as a house of monotheistic worship.
• Muslims pray in the direction of and not to the Kaaba because they use it as a means of spiritual direction towards God.

• Muhammad a descendent of Ishmael receives the text of the Quran from God over 23 years
• In the beginning God tells him to preach about monotheism and people are angry and do not listen because they are used to polytheism
• In 622 The Hijra occurs where the Muslims move from Mecca to Medina (this is the start of the Muslim calendar)
• February 11 624 Muhammad received a revelation that his people should be praying towards Mecca and not Jerusalem. (Qibla)
• Muhammad preaches to the people of the Arabian Peninsula
• There were years of conflicts between the Muslims and the tribes around Mecca where both the Muslims and others won victories
• Muhammad and more than 10,000 followers capture Mecca in a relatively peaceful conflict
• By this time the Kaaba had been taken over and there were tons of pagan idols inside. Muhammad and his followers removed these idols and returned it to a house on monotheistic worship.

Conquest Of Mecca:

• Muhammad gives his farewell speech at Mt. Aramat a few months before his death
• When Muhammad dies, the Majority of the people of the Arabian Peninsula practice Islam, united.

Five Pillars of Islamic Practice
What are the five pillars of Islam?
They are obligations that every Muslim must satisfy in order to live a good and responsible life according to Islam.
First Pillar: Shahadah "Faith"

• "La ilaha illa Allah wa-Muhammad rasul Allah" which means, "There is no God but Allah, and Muhammad is his messenger."
• Agree that Allah is the only God, and that Muhammad is his prophet, that they personally accept this as true, and that they will obey all the commitments of Islam in their life.

Second Pillar: Salah "Prayer"

• Obligatory Muslim prayers performed five times each day

Times of prayer:

1. Salat al-fajr: dawn, before sunrise
2. Salat al-zuhr: midday, after the sun passes its highest
3. Salat al-'asr: the late part of the afternoon
4. Salat al-maghrib: just after sunset
5. Salat al-'isha: between sunset and midnight

• in direct contact with Allah; must wash their face, hands, and feet
• pray facing Mecca

Third Pillar: Sawm "Fasting"

• Muslim adults required to fast during Ramadan
• Exceptions: under twelve years old, the very old, those who are pregnant, breast-feeding, menstruating, or travelling.

Fourth Pillar: Zakah "Almsgiving"

• Giving of a set proportion of 2.5% of one's wealth to charity
• type of worship and of self-purification
  
  
  

Fifth Pillar: Hajj "Pilgrimage"

• The journey that every sane adult Muslim must undertake at least once in their lives if they can afford it and are physically able
• gather in Mecca and stand before the Kaaba to praise Allah
• bringing together believers from all over the world to meet and worship together
• Video of the Hajj, showing just how many people go and the different locations where this pilgrimage takes place (stop at 3:10)
  
  

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9x_WU0-uMns




The Split in Faith

• originally political
• Started over who should become the next leader after the death of the Prophet Muhammad in 632 C.E.

• Shi'ites (the minority) believed a direct descendant of the prophet should become caliph
• Wanted the prophet's cousin and son-in-law, Ali to become caliph
• Name comes from Shiat-Ali, or "partisans of Ali"

• The Sunnis (the majority) believed any worthy man could lead, regardless of lineage.
• They favored Abu Bakr, Mohammad's father-in-law.
• Sunni means "followers of the prophet" from the Arabic word for followers

• The Sunnis decided who the first caliph was, Abu Bakr.
• Ali became the 4th caliph 25 years later after the murder of the 3rd caliph,Uthman ibn 'Affan
• He was accused of not trying to find the killer of his predecessor
• Ali was challenged by the governor of Damascus, Mu'awiya, for the caliphate
• War erupted and Ali was killed while praying in a mosque near the town of Kufa, Iran

• Ali's son, Hussein, rejected the caliph as corrupt and tyrannical.
• He and 72 of his family and friends fought against the army of the Caliph
• Everyone of Hussein and his men were massacred.
• Hussein's decapitated head was carried in tribute to the Sunni caliph.
• Known as the Pince of Martyrs
• The Battle of Karbala is one of the most significant events in Shi'a history

Differences in Practice Between the Sunni and the Shi'a

• Both follow The five pillars of Islam
• believe in one, unitary God

Shi'a

• Follow Imams who are divinely appointed by the Prophet's family
• Largest sect is known as the Twelvers because they believe in the twelve divinely appointed Imams from the Prophet's line
• Believe that the twelfth Imam, Muhammad al-Muntazar al-Mahdi, was taken and hidden by God only to return at the end of time
• The Mahdi is a central focus (coming of the rightly guided one)
• Ayatollah lead until the Mahdi's return
• The role of the Ayatollah is debatable among Shi'ites
• The majority believe their power is only pertinent to matters of religion and spirituality. But there are a few who believe their power is absolute.
• Lead mourning processions in the memory of martyr Imam Hussain and mourn for a period of ten days in the Islamic month of Moharum.

The 12 Imams

• Interpret only stories about the Prophet's family and close associates in the Hadith and Sunnah
• Visit and Venerate shrines to the Imams of the Prophet's Family
• Permited to combine some prayers into three daily prayer times
• Hierarchy to the clergy and political and religious authority is vested in the most learned who emerge as spiritual leaders.
• Firmly believe Allah does not have a body
• Allah cannot be seen ("Sight cannot reach Him" (6:103))
• Allah forbids only things that are bad in nature, and He honors things that are good in nature
• Make up the majority in Iran and Iraq and large minority communities in Yemen, Bahrain, Syria, and Lebanon; can also be found in Afghanistan

Sunni

• less centralized
• They follow a Caliph, who can be either elected, or nominated by the preceding Caliph, or selected by a committee, or may gain the power through a military coup.
• Consider all Hadith and Sunnah narrated by any of twelve thousand companions to be equally valuable
• Believe veneration of shrines to be heretical
• There is no hierarchy of clergymen
• Some Sunni scholars hold beliefs which would imply that Allah has some sort of body
• Allah can be seen
• Believe nothing is good or evil in itself
• Make up the majority in most Islamic countries outside of Iran, Iraq, Yemen, and Bahrain.

Islamic Holidays

• Al Hijra- Islamic New Year’s Day- First day of the Islamic New Year celebrated on the first day of Muharram.
• Ashura- Day of mourning, observed on the 10th of Muharram, the first month of the Islamic year.
• Milad an-Nabi- Birthday of the Prophet Muhammad.
• Ramadan- Holy month of fasting

• Eid ul-Fitr- Marks the end of Ramadan. It starts the day after Ramadan ends.
• Eid al-Adha- Religious festival celebrated as a commemoration of Abraham's willingness to sacrifice his son, as commanded by Allah.

Misconceptions About Islam and the Muslim Faith

• No freedom of religion.

Many people think that there is no religious freedom in Islam. Is it started in the Quran (the sacred writings of Islam) that there is no compulsion in religion:
"Let there be no compulsion in religion: Truth stands out clear from Error: whoever rejects evil and believes in God has grasped the most sure hand-hold, that never breaks. And God is Hearing, Knowing. [2:256]"

• Muslims reject Jesus.

It is commonly thought that Muslim people think negatively of Jesus. This is because they do not believe that Jesus was truly the son of God. It it stated many times throughout the Quran that Jesus was a very important prophet.


Jesus in an Islamic portrayal of the last judgement.

• Intolerance to other religions.

People think that Muslims reject people who do not share the same beliefs as them. The truth is that Islam has always given respect to all religions.
The Quran states: “God does not forbid you, with regards to those who fight you not for religion nor drive you away out of your homes, from dealing kindly and justly with them, for god loves those who are just.”

• Muslims are savages.

It has been said that Muslims are savages and fight barbarically during war. This is proved wrong by the set of 10 rules that every Muslim army follows:

1. Do not commit treachery
2. Do not deviate from the right path
3. Do not mutilate dead bodies
4. Do not kill children
5. Do not kill women
6. Do not kill aged men
7. Do not harm or burn trees
8. Do not destroy buildings
9. Do not destroy an enemy’s flock, unless you use it for your food
10. When you pass people who have devoted their lives to monastic services leave them alone



Three Main Ideas to Consider:

1. It is important to educate yourself about Muslims and their faith and form an opinion based on facts, not misconceptions.
2. Similarities/differences between the Shi'a and Sunni
3. The five pillars are obligations that every Muslim must satisfy in order to live a good and responsible life according to Islam.

Sources

http://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/islam/practices/fivepillars.shtml

http://www.saudiembassy.net/about/country-information/Islam/five_pillars_of_Islam.aspx

http://www.csmonitor.com/2007/0117/p25s01-wome.html

http://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/islam/subdivisions/sunnishia_1.shtml

http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1924116,00.html#ixzz2H8iaJNJg

http://www.mechon-mamre.org/p/pt/pt0121.htm#12 (bible)

http://www.holidaysmart.com/z_islamiccalendar.htm

http://islam.about.com/od/hajj/a/adha.htm

http://www.islamicity.com/ramadan/eid_default.shtml

http://www.misconceptions-about-islam.com/

http://listverse.com/2009/07/10/top-10-misconceptions-about-islam/

http://www.islamawareness.net/Muhammed/ibn_kathir.html

http://www.islamic-awareness.org/History/Islam/Dome_Of_The_Rock/qibla.html